April Picks

I just can't wait until it's Spring - well, at least I can't wait until it starts feeling like Spring. This month i'm all about sunny dresses, strappy sandals, and black, white and gold. 

4.Collective Candied Lemon Sheath // AERIN Gold Comb // Diane von Furstenberg Patmos Sandals with Lucite Heel // MICHAEL Michael Kors 13" Sleeve for MacBook Pro // Virginia Kraljevic "The Tent" Print 

Hello Chicago!

First things first, there have been some minor changes in my life lately. One, I recently packed up my belongings and moved to Chicago. And two, i'm officially a student again.

While it was very bittersweet to leave SoCal, the feeling of being on the right path is something I couldn't be more excited about. I think my life is about to change more than I can anticipate, and hopefully in ways that I cannot imagine.

My passion has always been with design, and i'm lucky enough to realize that design is what I want to do. So that's what i'm doing... doing what I love. For the next year I will be studying graphic design and i'm excited to be able to share this journey of learning and creating with you.

image via

What I'm Reading: The Creative Habit

"I believe we all have strands of creative code hard-wired into our imaginations. These strands are as solidly imprinted in us as the genetic code that determines our height and eye color, except they govern our creative impulses." - Twyla Tharp

I started reading Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit a few weeks ago, and while I'm not even halfway through the book yet it's already got so many wheels in my head turning. This book is based around the idea that creativity doesn't just happen, you have to make it a habit. One of the best things about this book is that it doesn't only pertain to your "creative" life but to every different aspect of your life, and you don't have to be an artist or designer to get something out of this book. 

The Creative Habit is filled with exercises and advice on how you can start making creativity a habit. Below are a few points that really hit home with me and help me realize some roadblocks with my own creativity:

1. Never leave the house without your one tool - whether a camera, sketch pad, pencil, etc.

2. Distractions and fear are the most dangerous creativity killers - learn to recognize them and kill them at the onset.

3. Learning what you don't like is as important as learning what you do like - don't waste time and heartache trying to peruse something that deep down you really don't even like.

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? 

Reasons Why I Could Never Be a Fashion Blogger

So i've been thinking about my blog a lot lately... Yes, even though it has been nearly an entire month since my last post, my blog is on my mind. When I initially started my blog, I had envisioned it as being primarily an interior design blog with splashes of postings about my art. 

But, of course once this whole operation got started it took a different direction. I fount it more challenging than expected to say anything intelligent or authoritative about interior design other than "I LOVE THIS SPACE - IT'S AMAZING". And, my art seems to have gotten buried into the pile of this other thing called my working life. But now i've been rethinking the entire focus of my blog and I really want to make it more "me". 

While pondering this possibility of a new direction, I started asking myself the reasons why I liked some of favorite blogs. It turns out that most of these blogs are... fashion blogs. (Honestly though, what girl doesn't like fashion?) It only took me about a millisecond to decide that I could NEVER be a fashion blogger - for more reasons than one. Five reasons, actually. 

Then of course, I realized how much I appreciate the fashion bloggers out there! Not only are they giving clueless girls like me direction on style, they are creatively putting together amazing outfits, then standing out in the freezing cold (or in the warm California sun, but we’ll forget about that) to get these photos… and then putting it all together for their blog posts! (And here I am complaining that it’s hard to copy + paste some photos and talk about them for a little on my blog.)

Here are some links to my favorite fashion bloggers, be sure to check them out!

Stephanie Sterjovski - stephaniesterjovski.com

Sequins & Stripes - sequinsandstripes.com

A Piece of Toast – apieceoftoastblog.com

Rebecca Marin - rebeccaamarin.blogspot.com

Keep up the good work ladies – so many of us are counting on you!

♥ Ashlee

Inspirational Work Spaces

Nothing is worse than feeling completely uninspired when you sit down to work. Usually after a good hour or two of perusing around Pinterest boards you're feeling much better, but making sure your work space is inspiring in itself is so important! Below are some of my favorite inspiring work spaces (I'm all about the inspiration board!):   

Images via 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 & 7

13 to do in 2013

Hi! So I haven’t totally abandoned my blog… with work, the holidays and everything in between, a month can seem to fly by like only a few days! January is almost half way out of here, so I figured better late than never for this post.

As always, with every new year we tend to think back on the good and bad of the previous year and make resolutions to do something new or better in the new one. This year, I thought all the way back to 2011, which was probably one of the hardest years of my life so far, and then onto 2012, which was a little better. So, 2013 I’m certain is going to be a great year!

With that, instead of making a few resolutions I’ve made a list of 13 things I want to do this year:

1. Yoga + Pilates

Yoga and Pilates are my go-to workouts when I want to feel good and get toned fast – plus they’re fun! I want to make these a regular part of my schedule this year. My favorites are Kathryn Budig’s Aim True Yoga (at-home) and Pure Barre (look for a location near you – seriously, it’s amazing). 

2. The Paleo Diet

There’s a little controversy around this diet (or, “eating plan” as I prefer to call it), but I’m about 10 days in and have noticed so many improvements in my mood, energy, skin, and body overall. I would recommend that anyone who is feeling less than great to take a look into it. It sounds hard and torturous but you will be amazed at the unlimited yummy food combinations and recipes out there – but sometimes you’ll have to force yourself to put the cookie down because sugar is not part of the paleo diet. 

3. Make more time for friends

Yes, sometimes it’s hard to coordinate schedules or all you want to do is veg out and relax, but time with friends is so important. I plan to make this a priority. 

4. Say “no” more often

Learning to say no can be a very difficult but rewarding thing. Sometimes I get myself into a lot of things I just don’t have any interest in doing. This year, I’m going to say no more often. 

5. Pay off debt

I don’t think I need to explain this one. 

6. Make my bed

I love coming home to a perfectly made bed – and I always seem to be more productive when blankets aren’t all over the place.  This year it’s time to start being an adult and make my bed.

7. Be positive

Sometimes a negative attitude can spoil everything, or make things seem worse than they really are. I’m going to experiment with this one and see how things improve by having a positive attitude, even when I don’t feel like it.

8. Date

Yep, it’s time to get back into the game… I’ve been sitting out for wayyy too long.

9. Take more photos

I have a fun little Lumix GX1 camera that is just screaming for me to take it out of its bag. I love taking photos and I want to make it a point to start exploring and getting more creative with my photography. 

10. Learn to paddleboard

I live about 15 minutes away from amazing beaches and I rarely get out into the water. Paddleboarding seems like something that is right up my alley, plus it’s a great ab workout. 

11. Wear heels more often

I love my flats, but they’re so 2012. Time to start taking some pretty shoes out of the closet. 

12. Work on moving closer to the “dream”

At this point I’m not really sure what my “dream” is, but this year it’s time to start exploring and figuring out what it is that feels right. 

13. Make time for creativity

I always forget how much I love drawing/painting/experimenting until I actually start doing it. I always have good intentions to work my creative muscle but end up side tracked. This year there are no excuses – Do now what you’ll be happy with later.

Happy 2013! What are you plans for this year?


P.S.  The cute “2013 * this is my year” image is an art print! It can be found over here at SS Print Shop!